This post is part of our celebration of social media week!

It’s easy to dismiss the suggestion of a social media strategy by saying “our MLR committee would never allow that” or worse yet, you’ve invested in building a strategy, are nearing the launch date, and your MLR committee identifies an issue that derails the entire strategy. A few common reasons are the root cause for an MLR review gone wrong:

1. The length of time for their review and approval renders the content outdated
2. Your MLR committee is unsure of the risks and benefits associated with each type of social media
3. General anxiety about the adverse events appearing on the proposed social media channels

These are all valid concerns that need to be addressed before engaging in social media but they’re all able to managed – all you need is a little collaboration.

One of the best ways to conquer these hurdles is to involve your MLR committee in social planning from the start. Here at GSW, we conduct on-site bootcamps and workshops with our clients when they’re beginning to pursue a social strategy.

BOOTCAMPS:

Our bootcamp session is themed “social media for pharma 101” and is used to quickly build alignment and understanding of social media’s definition, what can and can’t be done, and how it is being used by pharma. The bootcamps are a chance for your brand team, agencies, and MLR committee to come together and focus on three key topics:

WORKSHOPS:

Now that everyone is on the same page about what social media is and how it can be used, it’s time to begin putting this knowledge to work for your brand. Our planning workshops focus on the social media opportunity that is to be found at the intersection of your marketplace’s values and brand goals:

We work to identify at least 4-5 social media tactics that warrant further research and thought. The best part of this workshop is that all stakeholders have had a say in crafting these ideas and thereby, are already in support of them.  We leave this session with the action steps of applying more thought about how these ideas will be implemented, measured, optimized, and of course – work within the MLR committee’s guidelines

BUSINESS CASE PRESENTATION

The last step of our process is to re-group after having the chances to work through some of the aforementioned tasks. We present the ideas again, make any last comments and then decide which of the ideas we want to implement.

In closing, the beauty of this process is that MLR has been included from ideation to conceptualization. There shouldn’t be any surprises during the formal review of your program since they’ve had the opportunity to voice their concerns during the planning phases.  Collaborating in this manner helps all stakeholders of the social media strategy to have confidence that its tactics and content are valuable yet reside within the existing regulatory environment of our industry.